Appleby

Private Client and Trusts

Advocate Paula Fry is Counsel in the Private Client & Trusts department in Guernsey.

Paula is an established dual-qualified lawyer of 23 years’ call (also TEP qualified), of which thirteen years have been spent in Guernsey building a wide-ranging private client and trust practice. Her work covers both non-contentious and contentious trust and private client practice as well as corporate and finance work.

She has a wealth of experience and has, in particular, been involved in numerous re-structuring exercises, a number of momentous decision applications, various mistake applications, trustee removal applications, the removal of a protector, applications and advice in relation to the defective appointment of trustees, a significant court application concerning the construction of a will and a novel court application in relation to the rectification of companies’ share registers.

Paula is well acquainted with a broad spectrum of trust and estate related matters, including the establishment of trusts, foundations, private trust companies, the preparation of wills and the administration of estates. She also advises trustees, protectors, beneficiaries and private banks on all aspects of trusts.

Additionally, Paula has built up a practice which goes beyond the remit of traditional private client work, having dealt with substantial corporate transactions and numerous financing arrangements involving trustees.

Paula’s experience includes:

• Acting for corporate trustee in the rationalisation of substantial trusts, including partial exclusions of beneficiaries and appointments of sub-funds to avoid breach of trust issues;
• Acting with UK, Swiss and Italian advisors in the restructuring of a significant family trust; preparation of documentation including creation of sub-funds and creation of different classes of shares in the holding company of a number of property development companies;
• Establishment of highly bespoke trust to receive assets held by BVI company following death of Middle Eastern shareholder where a  BVI grant of probate was not being obtained;
• Review and revision of documentation to incorporate a private trust company and the establishment of various trusts;
• Advising a trustee in relation to an application to set aside the transfer of assets to a trust on the grounds of mistake following incorrect tax advice;
• Advising client in relation to potential breaches of duty by Guernsey trustee resulting in a significant tax liability with interest and penalties

Prior to joining Appleby in 2017, Paula had worked for a major law firm in Guernsey since 2011.

English

Paula qualified as an Advocate of the Royal Court of Guernsey in January 2021. Paula was admitted as a solicitor in England & Wales in November 2001

Paula has also been recognised in the highly respected ALM and Law.com Private Client Global Elite 2024 Directory in the ‘Excellence’ category.

Paula is a keen author and frequently contributes articles to a number of publications.